Iranian President Ahmadinejad Willing To Give Obama A Chance, Welcomes Talks With U.S.

[ClarkUSA]

Iranian leader said on state TV today that he welcomes talks with the U.S..

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's hard-line president said Wednesday that his country welcomes talks with the United States should the American president prove to be "honest" in extending its hand toward Iran, one of the strongest signals yet that Tehran welcomes Barack Obama's calls for dialogue.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments come after Obama said his administration is looking for opportunities to engage Iran and pledged to rethink Washington's relationship with Tehran. At his inauguration in January, Obama said his administration would reach out to rival states, saying "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Last month, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rebuffed Obama's video message on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year... But Ahmadinejad offered a more conciliatory tone Wednesday.

"The Iranian nation welcomes a hand extended to it should it really and truly be based on honesty, justice and respect," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television... Iranian leaders have struck a moderate — but cautious — tone about Obama since his election in November. Ahmadinejad sent Obama a message of congratulations after he was elected — the first time an Iranian leader offered such wishes to the winner of a U.S. presidential race since the two countries broke off relations.

In a further example of how different the Obama administration is from BushCo, Iran needs to look no further than the warning VP Biden gave to Israel's neocon wingnut Prime Minister yesterday during his first post-inauguration TV interview with CNN.

Vice President Joe Biden issued a high-level admonishment to Israel's new government Tuesday that it would be "ill advised" to launch a military strike against Iran... his comment underscored a gap between the conservative new Israeli government and the Obama White House on a series of questions, including the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iran.

While the Obama administration has made a series of recent overtures to Tehran, the Israelis have grown more confrontational... Netanyahu signaled several times during his election campaign that he would not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. "I promise that if I am elected, Iran will not acquire nuclear arms," he said in one appearance, "and this implies everything necessary to carry this out."

With his brief comment Tuesday, Biden became the highest-ranking administration official to caution the Jewish state against a military strike. In the interview, Biden was asked whether he was concerned that Netanyahu might strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

"I don't believe Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. I think he would be ill advised to do that," Biden said.

Know hope.

[firedupdem]

1. But thats the only name sayrah remembered! He can't suddenly

act like he's willing to be reasonable.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. I always figured Ahmadinejad was a response to Bush.

[Aloha Spirit]

3. I bet he still can't believe we "let" Obama be President, lol. Ahmadinejad is distinguishing between

Bush and Obama...very different from last year when he said the election didn't matter.
He probably misses W.

Anyway, here's my post on Khamanei possibly not backing Ahmadinejad in the election.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8329274

[ClarkUSA]

8. Well, way too many folks didn't give Barack or his supporters much credit last year.

Your OP was very good reading. Thanks for the link! It seems Iran's Supreme Leader has many options available to him.

[PBS Poll-435]

4. Didn't he make some rather harsh comments after Obama extended an olive branch

During the Muslim New Year?

[ClarkUSA]

6. That was Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who controls Ahmedinejad.

Last month, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rebuffed Obama's video message on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year, in which the president reached out to the Iranian people. Khamenei said Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy.

But Ahmadinejad offered a more conciliatory tone Wednesday.

I suspect President Obama's speech and townhall in Ankara, Turkey as well as VP Biden's warning shot to Israel's top wingnut yesterday were seen as "concrete changes" to Iran's supreme leader.

[PBS Poll-435]

7. Thank you for the link

[Jennicut]

5. So what to do when the US President no longer is a total ahole?

Guess he is backtracking now. He is still an idiotic slug but maybe something can come out of this.

[ClarkUSA]

9. It'll be interesting to see what happens now.

I predict Iran will end up being our ally against Al-Qaeda. Iran, being Shia, has a common goal with the U.S. to prevent Sunni
extremism from spreading throughout the Middle East.

[MiniMe]

10. And freeper heads explode once again

It has to be getting a bit messy over in freeperland, I hope they have a good janitorial service.